The Israeli Municipality of West Jerusalem set up, on Wednesday, a sign reading “Temple Mount”, in reference to the nearby al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The sign, which was placed near Al Nather Gate, was made available in three languages: Hebrew, Arabic and English, according to WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency.

Jews refer to the site as the “Temple Mount,” claiming it as the site of two Jewish temples destroyed in ancient times. The site is home to the third holiest mosque in Islam, and houses the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

The site is located in occupied East Jerusalem, taken by Israel from Jordan in 1967, but under an agreement to keep the site under Jordanian jurisdiction.

The Jordanian-run Islamic Waqf Department, which has administrative jurisdiction over the compound, said the sign is nothing but an attempt to Judaize the holy site and the city of Jerusalem.

The site has been an epicenter of the prolonged Israeli-Arab conflict. It has witnessed recurrent clashes in recent years between Muslim worshipers and Israeli police, most frequently due to provocative visits by Jewish extremists who believe the mosque should be destroyed and replaced with a Jewish temple.

Christians outside of the Levant remain divided on the issue, as biblical end times prophecy states: "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple." ~Revelation 21:22

The most violent clashes were witnessed in the year 2000, when late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, long known for his far-right views, entered the holy site along with 200 police officers, provoking what was then known as the Palestinian Second Intifada.

The Israeli Occupation Authority (IOA) is working on transforming the ancient Islamic landmarks and estates located to the west of Aqsa Mosque into public baths for Jews and tourists.

Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said, in a statement on Monday, the IOA has turned Islamic landmarks in the area, known as “Um al-Banat Bridge” within al-Magharebah neighborhood, which is fifty meters far from the holy Mosque, into public baths.

The Foundation said the project aims at attracting the Jews as well as foreign tourists who wish to visit Buraq Square which has been used by Jews as a site to perform Talmudic rituals.

“This Judaization step comes within a project called Strauss House which is under construction. Recently, the IOA has been remarkably escalating construction works on the project which had started two years ago”, the Foundation said.

Al-Aqsa Foundation described this step as a crime against history, civilization and architecture and profanation of the ancient Islamic Waqf landmarks which must be maintained in accordance with international norms and regulations.

The Foundation called on Islamic and Arab countries and organizations to confront such a crime which is punishable by international law.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center said that the Israeli occupation authority persisted in its violations against the Palestinians and the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem during last January.

In a monthly report released on Sunday, the center stated that it had documented the detention of 150 Palestinian citizens, 65 of them were minors, in January 2015.

The detainees also included eight men aged between 40 and 60 as well as 27 women, five of them minors.

Most of the arrests in the reporting month took place in Silwan, Issawiya, Attur, Sur Baher, the Old City of Jerusalem, and Beit Hanina.

As for the violations against the Aqsa Mosque, 660 Jewish settlers desecrated the Islamic holy place under police protection in January.

During their tours at the Mosque, some extremist settlers deliberately provoked the feelings of the Muslim worshipers and Mosque guards by performing Talmudic rituals in its courtyards and verbally attacking them; they also made attempts to defile the plateau of the Dome of the Rock.

Settlers also flew two radio-controlled planes above the Aqsa Mosque and Bab al-Rahmeh cemetery to cause panic among the Muslims.

The month saw entry restrictions on the Muslim worshipers at the Mosque, where the Israeli police were taking the ID cards of men and women at its gates before allowing them in.

The police also banned the entry of 24 citizens to the Aqsa Mosque for various periods ranging between 21 to 60 days.

The Jerusalem Development Authority -which follows the Israeli occupation authorities in Jerusalem- in addition to the ministry of tourism and Jerusalem affairs, have recently declared project which contributes to the Judaization of New Gate area, south the old city wall, and consists of changing the historical tiles, maintenance of water pipes and electricity and lighting, in addition to the original reconstruction of shops and cafes in the area.The project is taking place under the name of tourism maintenance and reconstruction, which will obliterate the original identity of the Gate.It is set to be implemented within the next few weeks and end in 2016, with the cost of $2.5 million.The New Gate will be turned into a tourist destination, and will be subjected to Judaization through Israeli occupation hanging the " Talmudic Mazozah" for blessing. According to rabbis, it is a piece of wood or iron that has signs and he ten biblical words, which will Judaize the gate, as happened in Al-Khalil, Magharba and David gates in the historical wall of Jerualem.The New Gate counts as one of the most important gates of the old city. It is an entrance to the Christian neighborhood and the the Resurrection Church.The gate was built in 1886 at the order of Sultan Abdul Hamid, to ease connection between the residents of the old and the new city, without having to turn around the wall through Al-Khalil or Al-Amoud gates.Al-Aqsa foundation for Waqf and Islamic heritage said that this project is a danger, since it adds to the Judaiuzation projects which are forced on Jerusalem by Israeli occupation, changing its names and features against the international law, and obliterating the original identity of the gate for the purpose of Judaization and not only tourism.The foundation added that occupation focused on this area because it was a very active and lively vein of the city, in addition to being close to the light trail, where settlements are severely growing and obliging their existence, enhancing ethnic cleansing of the Muslim and Christian Palestinians there.Israeli occupation has dedicated about $90 million for Judaization projects and occupation control over the city of Jerusalem for the years within 2013- 2019 under the name of tourism reconstruction and maintenance.Read More: 2014: Year of Israeli Judaization of Al-Aqsa Mosque

Head of Jerusalem International Center Hassan Khater expressed his concern about the growing number of Jewish inhabitants in eastern Jerusalem compared to the Palestinian natives.

Before 1967, 100% of the inhabitants in East Jerusalem were Palestinians with a zero percentage for the Jews. However, 50% of the inhabitants at present are Jews, Dr. Hassan Khater said in a press release on Sunday.

Khater added the Israeli occupation has managed to confiscate 89% of Jerusalem lands leaving only 11% for the Jerusalemite people. He pointed out that the enormous acceleration in Judaization of Jerusalem has not been met with significant change in the forms and methods of resistance which is confined to repeated emotional media discourse, according to Khater.

The head of the Center urged the Arab and Islamic nations to take a more effective stand in support and in defense of Jerusalem and its holy shrines.

Many Palestinian figures have expressed their fears that, based on field and security indicators, the Israeli occupation may take advantage of some events or what they call "the historic moment" to destroy al-Aqsa Mosque.

Dr. Jamal Amr, an expert in Jerusalem affairs and settlements, said in an exclusive statement to the PIC that field and security indicators confirm that the Israeli occupation is about to carry out a lethal act of aggression including a high probability of destroying al-Aqsa Mosque and build the alleged temple on its ruins.

Amr added: "Recently, Sheikh Raed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948-occupied Palestinian lands, warned of destroying al-Aqsa Mosque depending on some information he has received, and I agree with him; because the political and legislative leaderships in Israel are making promises to build the alleged temple."

And among the most prominent Israeli leaders who call for building the alleged temple are the housing minister, Uri Ariel, and the deputy speaker of the Knesset, Moshe Feiglin, and a number of the current government officials.

Dr. Amr clarified that: "The Israeli leaders who promised the Israeli voters to build the temple have been carrying out attacks and break-ins throughout the past months", and warned that they might take advantage of the successive crises currently rocking the Arab countries. He also drew attention to the Israeli drones flying over Al-Aqsa Mosque, noting that these drones could be used to launch bomb attacks.

He also pointed out that: "After 17 March, the Israeli election date, we will face a very serious dilemma ; because members of 25 extremist organizations admitted that they have been subjected to pressure from the Israeli police and intelligence to escalate their break-ins and attacks against al-Aqsa Mosque and the worshipers in it, provoke them and take off the Palestinian women's Hijabs (veils) so as to trigger a Palestinian reaction and then use it as an excuse for committing a massacre similar to the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre."

Critical days

For his part, Sheikh Raed Salah said that the days following the Israeli Knesset elections will be critical because of the dangerous projects the Israeli parties declared, and pointed out that some Arab parties conveyed to him a serious warning concerning Israeli schemes to explode a bomb inside al-Aqsa Mosque within the next days that follow the elections.

"We will play our role in protecting al-Aqsa Mosque as we have always done," Sheikh Raed Salah said, adding: "Palestinians must stay in al-Aqsa Mosque in the morning and perform I'tikaaf (a religious retreat) inside it in the night and be always prepared for any possible assault," and pointed out that even the leftist Meretz party approved performing Talmudic rituals inside al-Aqsa Mosque.

Moreover; there are Israeli statements stressing the importance of imposing a temporal division on al-Aqsa after the Israeli Knesset elections. He also emphasized that the current crises and the domestic problems Arab states are preoccupied with should not distract us from protecting Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netnyahu has ordered the demolition of Palestinian facilities in occupied Jerusalem and area C which is under full Israeli control.

Netanyahu has issued instructions to his war minister Moshe Ya’alon to immediately implement the demolition orders.

Netanyahu’s instructions came shortly after Israeli Channel 2 published a televised report saying that the European Union (EU) has financed the construction of Palestinian buildings in Isawiya town and area E1.

The Israeli civil administration has declared that those buildings would be soon demolished “for being illegally built.”

In this matter, an EU official said that the buildings were set up to meet the Palestinians' needs, strongly condemning Israel’s E1 settlement plan that would “hinder the future establishment of a Palestinian state.”

The management of the Cooperative Village, Ahihud, established on the ruins of al-Barweh displaced village in Acre, desecrated the Islamic and Christian cemetery of the village. Ahihud covered the cemetery’s ground with soil in a preparatory step to turn it into a cattle barn.The Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage warned, in a statement on Thursday, of this dangerous step, describing it as brutally breaching the sacredness of the dead.

Abdulmajid Eghbariyeh, official at the Foundation, strongly denounced turning the cemetery into a cattle barn.

The Cooperative village has been violating the Islamic and Christian holy places in al-Barweh Palestinian village for establishing such projects. Many stockades and barns have been constructed on the remains of dead Muslims and Christians, he said.

The Islamic Waqf Authority in occupied Jerusalem said a number of Jewish settlers on Thursday morning desecrated the Aqsa Mosque under security protection, while the Israeli occupation police detained three female Muslim worshipers there.According to Waqf Authority, small groups of settlers escorted by policemen defiled the Aqsa Mosque, which angered the Muslim worshipers in its courtyards and prompted them to protest their presence by chanting religious slogans.

Meanwhile, some of the Mosque's guard intervened to stop a Jewish settler from reciting Talmudic prayers inside the Islamic holy place near the Gate of King Faisal, while another settler tried to attack one of the guards who asked him to leave the place after he performed similar rituals.

Israeli policemen, in their turn, intervened to protect the settlers and tried to prevent an official from the Islamic Waqf Authority from taking pictures of them as they were violently dealing with the Mosque's guards and Muslim worshipers.

The Waqf Authority noted that the Israeli police confiscated in the morning the ID card of a Palestinian working as a guard at the Aqsa Mosque.

In a separate incident, the Israeli occupation forces at dawn Thursday kidnapped five Palestinians during raids on several homes in al-Khalil city and towns in Ramallah. All the detainees are claimed to be wanted by the Shin Bet.

The Islamic-Christian Committee in Support of Jerusalem and the Holy Sites considered the announcement of the Israeli housing minister Uri Ariel that "this year the Jews will enjoy practicing their religious and national rights in the temple mount (Israeli reference to al-Aqsa Mosque)" as an official announcement on dividing and Judaizing al-Aqsa Mosque.

The committee warned of the suggestion of some Israeli politicians, chief rabbis and Jewish activists to inaugurate a synagogue in Jerusalem's al Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) for the Jews to pray in as a prelude to build the alleged temple.

The committee, in a statement on Wednesday, pointed to the Jewish arrogance and radicalism and the Judaization policy in Occupied Jerusalem and against its holy sites, most importantly al-Aqsa Mosque.

The statement clarified that the announcement of the Israeli housing minister clearly demonstrates the Israeli intentions to demolish al-Aqsa Mosque and build the alleged temple on its ruins.

For his part, Hanna Issa, the Secretary General of the Islamic-Christian Committee called on the international community to pay more attention to the cause of al-Aqsa Mosque and the malevolent Israeli schemes aimed at Judaizing it, obliterating its Islamic character, turning it into a Jewish synagogue and establishing the "Temple".

In the same context, Dr. Issa attributed the persistence of the Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) and its daily flagrant violations against al-Aqsa Mosque to the silence of the international community and its institutions and organizations.

The committee condemned the housing minister's threat of a massive Jewish desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque “to stand up for their national and religious rights”, warning of the planned mass Jewish marches aimed at changing the status quo in the Mosque.

In 2014, the Israeli occupation escalated and encouraged break-ins into al-Aqsa Mosque and tried to impose a temporal division but the resistance of the Jerusalemites and 48-Palestinians forced the occupation to retract some steps it had taken.

Approximately one thousand Israeli settlers in January alone have invaded the holyal-Aqsa Mosque Compoundin East Jerusalem al-Quds.Some 965 Israeli settlers accompanied by Israeli security forces stormed the holy Islamic site in January, said the al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage.Israel continues to restrict the movement of Palestinian worshipers to the al-Aqsa Mosque. The invasion has led to many conflicts between Palestinian worshipers and Israelis.Nearly 90 percent of Palestinians believe that Israel is going to destroy the al-Aqsa Mosque and replace it with a temple, a new survey shows.The Tel Aviv regime has tried to change the demographic makeup of al-Quds over the past decades by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population.The al-Aqsa Mosque compound, located in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds, is a flashpoint Islamic site, also holy to the Jews. The mosque is Islam’s third holiest site after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.

The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, strongly condemned Israeli police commander’s break-in into al-Aqsa Mosque along with a number of settlers and officials on Tuesday.

Sheikh Hussein warned of the serious implications of such violations that deliberately target al-Aqsa Mosque. He slammed the Israeli attempts to take control over Hush Shahabi building located in the vicinity of the Iron Gate to be then named “The Small Wailing Wall”.

Hush Shahabi is an integral part of the western wall of al-Aqsa Mosque, which is currently under Israeli control, he pointed out.

The Grand Mufti also warned against Israel’s plan to turn the Iron Gate into a touristic and commercial area.

Sheikh Hussein pointed out that occupied Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque in particular are subjected to a fierce Judaization campaign that aims at wiping out the city’s Arab and Islamic landmarks in total disregard of international laws and conventions.

He called on Arab and Islamic countries and the free world to intervene immediately to stop the repeated Israeli attacks and break-ins into al-Aqsa Mosque.

Mufti of Jerusalem held Israel fully responsible for its serious violations against holy sites that could ignite a religious war in the region.

A group of Jewish settlers and officials headed by the Israeli police commander stormed Tuesday morning al-Aqsa Mosque and launched provocative desecration tours in its plaza.Nearly 20 Jewish settlers along with 15 Israeli officials broke into al-Aqsa Mosque this morning from al-Magaribeh gate under heavy police protection, eyewitnesses reported.

In the same context, a Palestinian report revealed that 956 Israeli settlers stormed al-Aqsa Mosque during January, while Israeli daily attacks against Palestinian worshipers were registered in the same period.

The data showed that during January 25 Palestinians were prevented from having access to the holy shrine for 15-60 days.

During the reporting period, two Palestinian Islamic associations working on the defense of al-Aqsa Mosque within the Green Line were shut down following a decision by Israeli war minister Moshe Ya’alon.

The report pointed out that break-ins into al-Aqsa Mosque have been notably invested by political parties prior to the projected March elections in Israel.

Several Israeli attempts were also reported during January to launch a remotely controlled flying device with camera over the Mosque's compound.

Along the same line, Israeli media sources unveiled an Israeli plan to register Muslims’ holy al-Aqsa Mosque as an Israeli state property to be officially run by the so-called Tabu (land registration) office as a prelude for establishing a Jewish synagogue over parts of the holy site.

Youth against Settlement has warned that Israeli president Reuven Rivlin will visit on Monday al-Shuhada'a street in al-Khalil city to support Judaization projects and urged the city young men to rally against his visit.In a press release on its Facebook page, the Palestinian youth group said Rivlin would visit Judaization projects threatening the Palestinian presence in the street, where a number of homes were appropriated and commercial stores were closed a few days ago by Jewish settlers under police protection.

The group called for necessarily moving to expose Israel's violations in al-Khalil, especially in the Old City and stand in the face of Rivlin's visit.